Door Peninsula

 

 

 

After leaving Green Bay we headed north to Marinette, Wisconsin in search of cheap fuel.  We found it at Harbor Town Marine where the price for diesel was about 50cents a gallon cheaper than anywhere else.  This is a significant savings when you consider that we would take on about 180 gallons!  We somewhat gleefully filled up – I say somewhat, because it was 180 gallons at $2.30/gallon!!  We never stopped to consider why it was so cheap until one of the 7 slip holders here said the fuel was most likely leftover from last boating season – not something you want to hear after filling your tanks!  So whether or not we got a bargain on fuel is yet to be determined.  The fuel polisher is running and we do have plenty of fuel filters on board.  J  And the owner of Harbor Town Marine gave us free dockage for the night – maybe he was just so gosh darn happy to sell the last of 2016’s diesel fuel…

A short walk across the Menominee River past big mounds of iron ore, the Waupaca Foundry and the Dunn Paper Company brought us to the Michigan Upper Peninsula town of Menominee, ‘where the best of Michigan begins.’   Not much was happening in downtown Menominee where most of the well-maintained buildings from the 1890’s were vacant. L  Maybe we should revisit this area in the winter once the big freeze settles in.  Then we could participate in ice boating or perhaps ice car racing, a cross between stock car derby and the Daytona 500?!?!

The strong west winds had pinned Lazy W against the fuel dock for most of the evening.  Luckily by morning the wind had subsided and we were able to pull away and head east to the Door Peninsula and a slip at Alibi Marina (motto – ‘Everyone Needs an Alibi’) in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. 

Fish Creek is said to be the largest and busiest vacation area on the Door Peninsula.  A large number of eateries and shops line Main Street just a block or two from the marina docks.  We are not shoppers (except for alcoholic beverages and produce) so we had to force ourselves into tourist/shopper mode and wander in and out of the shops.  Here you can find an eclectic assortment of goods for sale – art, garden décor, fur coats and vests, leather goods, all sorts of tchotchkes, moccasins, jewelry, humongous rustic teak benches, and the requisite t-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with Door County.  We stopped in at The Barrel Room to taste their olive oils and local wines, all of which seemed to use a high percentage of cherry juice mixed with grape juice to produce cabernets (?) and pinot noirs(?)  Really?  This shopping thing wasn’t working for us so we made one last stop at Fish Creek Market for much needed produce for dinner.  Alas, the produce market was stocked only with a strange mix of bruised bananas, green onions, apples and cherry tomatoes.

A chilly evening at Alibi Marina in Fish Creek

 

It is a good thing that our cruising plans are set in Jell-O.  We had planned to anchor off Peninsula State Park and dinghy in to shore for a Monday evening outdoor performance under the stars by the Northern Sky Theater.  However, we awoke to gusty winds, chilly temperatures and the threat of rain - that nixed Plan A.  So, Plan B called for staying at Alibi Marina for another day and Ubering to the show.

Did I mention the chill in the air here in northeastern Wisconsin?  One of the reasons for cruising on the Great Lakes this summer is to avoid the heat and humidity of the Chesapeake Bay.  Since we endured the heat wave in Milwaukee the temperatures have been mostly in the low 70’s with low humidity – except for today.  51⁰ with a wind chill of 48⁰ is a bit on the cool side for late June!  Break out the fleece – it won’t be getting much warmer than that today.

June 26^th was the 60^th birthday of my brother George and interestingly our Uber driver’s name was George.  He whisked us away to Northern Sky Theater for the 6PM performance of Oklahoma in Wisconsin.  This campy musical follows the trials and tribulations of a Hollywood location scout looking for the perfect location – outside the state of Oklahoma where there are just too many oil wells spoiling the view - for filming a 1954 technicolor movie of Oklahoma!.  Door County, Wisconsin and the Rocking Chair Inn of Fish Creek are just ‘perfect’ - or maybe not.  The production was well done amusing family entertainment and the cast could really belt out those tunes.  As we exited the outdoor theater, we found George waiting for us and that was fortuitous - otherwise we would have faced a very long walk back to the marina since we had absolutely no cell phone reception in the park.  5-STAR service from George.

The weather was finally cooperating so we moved on to Sister Bay, a mere ten-mile cruise from Fish Creek.  On our walk to the Piggly Wiggly grocery store we came upon Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant.  The truly unique thing about this restaurant is its grass roof and the small group of goats that graze upon it!

Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant

The first goat to appear on the roof was Oscar in 1973.  In the cold of winter or when it is raining, too hot or too windy, the current goats stay on the family farm.  Otherwise, they graze on the roof from 9AM until 6PM.  There is a ‘goat cam’ streaming live video from the rooftop!



Frank and friends at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant just before breakfast of Swedish pancakes, lingonberries and Swedish meatballs.  Delicious!

 

Happy Hour in Sister Bay, Wisconsin with Lazy W docked in the distance

 

Sister Bay Marina hosted a Tuesday night Wings and Things tasting.   We met some local boaters and a couple who are on a three-year sailing excursion with their middle-school-age daughter.  They will head up the Saint Lawrence, visit Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, then meet a sailing club in Portsmouth, VA for a cruise to the British Virgin Islands!  And we think we are on an adventure…

Edith M Becker sailing at sunset on Sister Bay
 

 

Green Bay

 

 

After a stormy Sunday and another stormy day in today’s forecast, we got up early Monday for the 6:30 opening of the Michigan Street Bridge.  We were on our way to Green Bay in search of cheese heads – and hoping to arrive well before the thunderstorms…

 

Not much activity on Green Bay this morning.  The occasional fisherman could be seen working his nets (which always seemed to be directly on our cruising course). A few white pelicans were out looking for breakfast which brings to mind a cute limerick attributed to Dixon Lanier Merritt.

                  A wonderful bird is the pelican,

                  His beak can hold more than his beli-can.

                           He can hold in his beak

                           Enough food for a week

                  But I’m damned if I see how the heli-can!

As we got closer to the entrance to Green Bay’s Fox River, we passed this rocky outcropping covered with dozens of white pelicans!

Approaching Green Bay and the north-flowing Fox River

Andy, the dock master, greeted us warmly upon arrival at South Bay Marina.  His welcome-boater package included two t-shirts which always makes the Captain happy!

Green Bay is Wisconsin’s oldest settlement dating back to the 1600’s when Europeans came to trap beaver for their highly prized pelts.  Today the city’s largest employers are the shipping and paper industries. And that is fitting since Green Bay is credited with the invention of the world’s first splinter-free toilet paper, Northern Tissue.  In 1930 the engineers at Northern Paper Mills of Green Bay developed the method of linenizing paper, creating a softer product and eliminating those pesky splinters.  Who knew?!?!

 

Donald Driver statue at Titletown Brewing

 

After a wet, stormy morning we Ubered to Titletown Brewery Restaurant housed in the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Depot.   In the early years of Green Bay Packers history, the team’s road trips often started and ended at this depot; faithful fans would gather here to send them off or greet their arrival.  The biggest celebration followed the first Packers NFL championship win over the Chicago Bears in 1929 when some 20,000 fans lined the nearby streets to meet the team train.  Outside the brewery is an enormous statue of Donald Driver, the Packers all-time leading receiver, who is scheduled to be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in July.  Lunch at the restaurant would have to satisfy our quest for team trivia until tomorrow’s tour of Lambeau.  All the tours for today were sold out!

 

A must see while in Green Bay is Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers the only team in the NFL owned by the fans.  The waiting list for season tickets runs 130,000-names long and the wait time is said to be 30 years!  Our first attempt to purchase tickets for a tour of Lambeau on Tuesday was unsuccessful so we had to stay an extra day just to see what all the fuss is about.

Display of the six retired Packers numbers in the atrium of Lambeau Field

It all started in 1919 when Curly Lambeau, a young football player and employee of Indian Packing Company, convinced his employer to back a fledgling football team in Green Bay.  Lambeau and George Calhoun recruited enough players to field a team that fall and began their season playing other teams throughout Wisconsin and Michigan.  In 1921 the team (now the Acme Packers) joined the ranks of the American Professional Football Association. 

The first 50 years of play were plagued by losing seasons and fraught with financial issues that almost led to the demise of the club.  The hiring of Vince Lombardi in 1959 and a sale of stocks kept the team going strong.  The Packers won Super Bowls I and II under Lombardi and he would be recognized as one of football’s greatest coaches.

As Tom, our tour guide, put it the 1970’s and 1980’s were ‘entertaining at best’ as the Packers finished the next 24 seasons post-Lombardi with only 5 winning records.  In 1992, Brett Favre came on as quarterback and we all know how things went after that!

Our tour included a run through the Packers tunnel to the field at Lambeau

 

After the tour of Lambeau Field and a refresher at its 1919 Kitchen and Tap we wandered through the Packers Hall of Fame.  On display – just about anything and everything you would care to know about the team and its legendary players including the evolution of the football uniform, four Vince Lombardi trophies, numerous players’ Super Bowl rings, dozens of Brett Favre bobble heads and a video of his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton.

Throughout Lambeau Field one thing becomes very apparent and that is the admiration that the team feels for its fans and the undying loyalty that Green Bay has for its team.  Consider one of the longstanding traditions started in the Lombardi era – during training camp, young boys and girls have the opportunity to share their bicycles with the players for the ride between the team locker room and the practice facility across the road.  The players pedal - sometimes with the kids on board or sometimes handing their helmets to the kids, riding solo and reconnecting at the practice field – what a great experience for the kids and a builder of life-long fans!

 

 

 

 

 

North from Milwaukee

Monday morning, June 12^th, was breezy but much less so than the entire weekend had been.  From our dock, Lake Michigan looked calmer than the forecast was portraying and we decided to leave for Port Washington.  The 27-mile run north from Milwaukee was pleasantly smooth.  Unfortunately, Lazy W was invaded by swarming hordes of black flies that rode with us the entire way!  We arrived at the town marina by 11:00 and by the time we finished tying up the flies were long gone.  The smashed bodies of their dead comrades littered the decks and the captain was anxious to wash them overboard.

Have you ever seen the clever television advertisements for clothing sold by the Duluth Trading Company?  Frank and I always get a chuckle out of them (Frank more than me J) and we were pleasantly surprised to find that a Duluth Trading Company store is located right at the harbor front in Port Washington.  We had to stop in at this ‘store like no other’ and peruse the merchandise.  The displays proved just as entertaining as their advertisements!  However, Frank was reluctant to spend $80 on a pair of fire hose work pants only to wear them in Lazy W’s engine room where there are no beavers.  But he does now own a longtail T.

 

 

 

Located a few blocks away from the Duluth Trading Company is the Pebble House.  The exterior walls of the Pebble House, built in 1848, are covered entirely with thousands of smooth colored stones collected from the lakeshore by blacksmith Edward Dodge and his wife Elizabeth.  The collecting and sorting of the stones must have taken them forever!  The stones are meticulously arranged in rows by color to form an eye-pleasing pattern. Originally built on Sauk Creek, the Pebble House was moved several times over the years and now serves as the Port Washington Visitor Center on Grand Avenue. 



We climbed a 105-step walkway to reach the Port Washington Lighthouse

 

The Art Deco style lighthouse at the entrance to Port Washington

 

Next stop along the Wisconsin shoreline - Sheboygan, known as “the spirit on the lake” and “the Malibu of the Midwest.”  We arrived shortly before the fog rolled in and long before a line of wicked thunderstorms blew in that evening, forcing us to extend happy hour well into dinner hour at Pier 17 Restaurant.

An update to the Harley-Davidson story is in order.  While in Sheboygan, we received a reply from an archivist at the H-D Museum.  He confirmed that the motorcycle that Frank’s grandfather drove in France during WWI was an Indian cycle and NOT a Harley.  Mystery solved!

 

 

Not far from downtown Sheboygan is the Village of Kohler, a model community founded in 1900 when Kohler Company moved its manufacturing facility out of Sheboygan.  The ivy-covered walls of the plant itself are cleverly disguised from view behind towering trees along lovely landscaped boulevards.  The showpiece of the community is the American Club, a luxurious five-star resort that once served as a dormitory housing Kohler’s immigrant factory workers.  Also in town is the Kohler Design Center, fondly known as ‘the toilet museum.’  We give it a 5-star rating – a few stars above the Jell-O Gallery Museum in Le Roy, New York and the Pen Museum in Tokyo, all of which we have visited.

The 35,000-square-foot Kohler Design Center showcases all things Kohler – that is, mainly bathroom plumbing fixtures or as the brochure puts it “stunning examples of the company’s contributions to gracious living and interior design.”  A walk through the three floors of displays first introduces you to the modest beginnings of the Kohler Company in 1873 when it was a major producer of cast iron farm implements and machinery.   In 1883, founder John Michael Kohler enameled the interior of a horse trough/hog scalder and sold it to a farmer as a bath tub.  The rest is history!

How it all began...

 

The remainder of the museum traces the changes in consumer’s tastes in plumbing fixtures from the earliest days of indoor plumbing to today’s luxury spa bathrooms complete with ‘intelligent toilets’ that are self-flushing and feature interior bowl lighting (yup, that’s right), and an array of remote controls that open and close the toilet seat and even regulate the warmth of that seat.  Just what the average home needs – another remote control for the toddlers’ playtime enjoyment.  I wonder if the intelligent toilet is smart enough to prevent the flushing of its remote!

The Great Wall of China - look closely - the wall is covered with bathtubs and toilets!

 

Carrying the plumbing fixture motif throughout the home - a bath tub inspired setteee

 

On the drive to Kohler, our Uber driver pointed out the World’s Tallest Symbol of Freedom.  Attached to this 400-foot tall flagpole at the headquarters of Acuity Insurance is a 70-foot by 140-foot American flag, supposedly the world’s largest free-flying American flag. Each stripe is over five feet high and each star is nearly three feet across. We could see this flag as we approached Sheboygan along Lake Michigan – and it is not located near the lakeshore!

 

 

Continuing the plumbing fixture theme in Sheboygan (we need to move on soon!) is the John Michael Kohler Arts Center where the only permanent art exhibits are the six restrooms!  And are they ever over the top.  The artists who were commissioned to create these works of art had the full complement of the facilities, technologies and materials of the plumbing ware manufacturer at their disposal. Never before had I seen restrooms that were just too awesome to use for their intended purpose.  

 

One of the three hand-painted sinks and stalls in the main Women's Room

 

 

 

Hand-painted sink in The Social History of Architecture - the Men's Room - a tour of architectural periods from ancient Egypt to the present time.

 

 

 

From Sheboygan, we cruised north to the small town of Kewaunee and, after overnighting at Salmon Harbor Marina, we continued north to Sturgeon Bay.  The morning weather forecast called for fog.  I was not anxious to relive the Infamous-Great-Manasquan-Sandy Hook-Fog-Incident of 2002 but from our vantage point at the dock it appeared that the fog had lifted.  So we threw off our lines and headed out.  And as we approached the end of the Kewaunee breakwater the fog thickened.  So with the eerie horn of Kewaunee Light and the annoying intermittent blare of Lazy W’s fog signal permeating the still air, we hesitantly continued on.  We knew there were many small fishing boats out in the fog since there was a salmon tournament based at Salmon Harbor Marina that morning and a little fog would not deter the fishermen.  Luckily, the fog lifted after about half an hour and the remainder of the cruise was enjoyable.  Except for those marauding black flies!

Black flies whose aquatic larvae hatch over the water of Lake Michigan are still problematic on every lake excursion.  They have not been quite as bad as our first encounter since we have learned that if you kill one, 500 more show up for the funeral!  Now instead of our swat to kill ‘em tactic we have changed to a more benign swat to chase ‘em.  We are also experimenting with other remedies such as Avon Skin So Soft since Deet-based repellents are not effective.  As if to mock our efforts to eradicate them, a family of black flies congregated on the Deet spray bottle.

Approaching Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal

A stately lineup of white pelicans and sea gulls was hanging out on the southern breakwater at the entrance to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal.  The seven-mile long canal cuts through Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula and consists of two parts – a dredged portion of Sturgeon Bay and a 1.3 mile canal dug in the late 1800s connecting the bay to Lake Michigan.  The purpose of the canal was to provide a safe route for freighters accessing Green Bay to and from Lake Michigan thus avoiding the shoal ridden passage at the northern tip of the peninsula.  We saw no commercial vessels in the canal as we made our way to The Yacht Harbor for a two night stay. 

The Yacht Harbor is the very place where Lazy W was first adopted in 1985!  While the marina no longer sells boats, its current owner bought the marina in 2004 from the man who sold Lazy W, then known as My Fair Lady.  She was moved to Ohio, sold twice in Florida where she was renamed C-Breeze, and then sold again to us in 2010.  Frank moved her north from Florida to Virginia that winter.  She is a well-traveled vessel.

Stained glass window at Door County Maritime Museum

While visiting the nearby Door County Maritime Museum, we also learned that in 1954 a man named George Baudhuin pioneered the Marine Travelift at his marina which is now The Yacht Harbor where we are docked.  This mobile sling-type boat hoist changed the handling of recreational vessels and has been the method used to hoist Lazy W into and out of the water numerous times.

We were up early on Monday morning for the 6:30 opening of the Michigan Street Bridge.  Now on to Green Bay in search of cheese heads...

 

Milwaukee

 

With a full moon setting over Lake Michigan, a light breeze and temperature of 51⁰, we left the security of our slip at Great Lakes Marina and headed out on Lazy W’s maiden voyage of the 2017 cruising season. Destination – Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Milwaukee lies 70 nautical miles across Lake Michigan from Muskegon.  The Lake Express, a high-speed catamaran-style ferry, makes two daily round-trip crossings and makes the crossing in 2.5 hours - top speed 34 knots. Lazy W in 9 hours - top speed 8.5 knots. 

 

Lake Michigan was incredibly calm.  What a great day to make the crossing!



 

Bundled up against the morning cold, we reveled in our good fortune to have picked such a perfect day for cruising across Lake Michigan.  We had the lake to ourselves – except for Lake Express.  Our wakes first crossed at 8:30am as she headed east from Milwaukee to Muskegon; then again at 12:15 as she headed west; and yet again at 1:30pm as she again headed east.  This just further reinforced the fact that Lazy W is a s-l-o-w boat.  But she did get us to Milwaukee’s McKinley Marina without incident at 1:30 central time – a mere nine hours after departing Muskegon!

 

Milwaukee from McKinley Marina

 

We were tired after registering with the marina and getting Lazy W situated in her new home, but we could not resist a short excursion downtown.  A short Uber ride away and we were at Riverwalk, a two-mile long pedestrian promenade that hugs the east and west banks of the Milwaukee River through the heart of downtown.  There was a flurry of activity as kayakers, canoers, paddle boarders, and partiers on pedal-driven pontoon boats turned into PedalTaverns slid effortlessly under the many bridges traversing the river.  A multitude of restaurants and craft breweries were doing a brisk happy hour business and we indulged in a cold one at Rockbottom Brewery.

 

 

 

Scattered along the Riverwalk are some twenty sculptures.  They range from the abstract to the whimsical to the life-sized bronze Fonz of Happy Days fame near Wells Street - “AYY.”

Aqua Grylli River Sculpture

 

 

 

 

And then there is the sculpture of Gertie, the mallard duck that brought the replacement of the Wisconsin Avenue bridge pilings to a screeching halt in April 1945.  Gertie had built her nest on one of the pilings and was waiting patiently for her nine eggs to hatch.  The local Milwaukee newspapers covered the story for 37 days; Life Magazine did a feature story on Gertie that summer.  It seems the nation was ready for an uplifting story as it dealt with the stresses of WWII.  As an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal put it – “She even helps us forget, for a few minutes, the horrible bungle man has made of his world.” Gertie and her ducklings Black Bill, Dee Dee, Freddie, Millie and Pee Wee are immortalized in bronze along the Riverwalk.

 

 



We ventured over to North Old World Third Street, an area of Milwaukee settled by German immigrants.  So many restaurants to choose from but Mader’s came highly recommended.  Serving fine German cuisine since 1902, Mader’s boasts a long list of celebrity diners including JFK, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Paul Newman, Britney Spears, Eric Clapton, John Belushi, ZZ Top, The Three Stooges and our very own Arlene and Jim Rich!!!  Is the place a tourist trap?  Probably, but the food was outstanding.  The Bavarian Sauerbraten was prepared to perfection just like I remember my Grandma Buckheit’s.  Thanks for the recommendation, Jim!

Being big fans of walking tours through the many cities we have visited over the years, we hooked up with a tour guide from Historic Milwaukee.  Paul was an architecture buff who somewhat unenthusiastically shared bits and pieces of Milwaukee history as seen through the buildings of downtown.  Some of the more interesting tidbits:

·      Gimbel’s Department Store.  Growing up on Long Island, New York (a.k.a. the center of the universe), I always thought that Gimbel’s was a uniquely NY store.  Imagine my surprise to learn that the very first Gimbel’s opened in Milwaukee in 1887.

·      Cream City. One of the most common building materials in the late 1800’s in Milwaukee was a light yellow brick made of clay from the Menomonee River Valley.  So many buildings in the city were constructed with this brick that Milwaukee was dubbed ‘Cream City.’  It has nothing to do with dairy products despite Wisconsin being dubbed ‘America’s Dairy Land.’

·      Milwaukee, with its large natural harbor, was a major port shipping grain from the Midwest to the eastern seaboard via the Erie Canal.  From 1880 to 1935 the Grain Exchange was housed in the Mackie Building.

·      The Iron Block Building is one of the few remaining examples of cast-iron architecture in America.  The pre-fabricated cast-iron units were shipped by schooner from Rochester, New York and assembled on the corner of N. Water Street and E. Wisconsin Avenue.  When it opened in 1861, the Iron Block was considered a very prestigious business address.

·      Northwest Mutual Insurance Company is a major employer here and its name graces many buildings downtown.  The city’s newest and third skyscraper (technically, Milwaukee has only three), is an elegant glass tower that can be seen from way out on Lake Michigan.  Company employees are all fed free lunch every work day.

·      Milwaukee Art Museum.  Also visible from way out on Lake Michigan, this white architectural wonder is topped by a movable, wing-like sunscreen that shades the glass atrium below.  Called the Burke Brise Soleil, the sunscreen has a wingspan of 217 feet - wider than the wingspan of a Boeing 747-400 airliner.  The opening and closing of the sunscreen is very weather-dependent but if the wind is less than 23mph and it’s not snowing, the sunscreen opens when the museum opens, and flaps its wings open and closed at noon each day.

The Iron Block Building

 

 

 

The Mackie Building

 

The Northwest Mutual Insurance Building - Milwaukee's newest skyscraper

 

Milwaukee Museum of Art

 

 

After listening to two hours of Milwaukee history, we needed a bit of levity.  So what better place to visit next than a brewery.  The Lakefront Brewery conducts the self-proclaimed most hilarious brewery tour ever.  So after lunch at the Milwaukee Ale House (are you seeing a pattern here?) we hoofed the two miles along the Riverwalk through Schlitz Park to Lakefront Brewery.  By the way, the brewery is NOT located on the lakefront - it occupies an old coal-fired generating plant on the western bank of the Milwaukee River.  Josh, our truly hilarious ‘beer experience navigator,’ made sure our plastic cups were fully ‘loaded’ before entertaining the group with raunchy jokes and an irreverent explanation of fermentation that referenced farting yeast and asexual reproduction.  The tour ended at the bottling station, and if Josh is to be believed, this bottling station is the very same one that Laverne and Shirley worked on in their sitcom.  So it was only appropriate that we all joined in a chorus of the Laverne and Shirley theme song.  “. . . Shlemeil, schlemazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated. . .”  Then it was back to the tasting room to exchange our tokens for more of their generous pours.

 

 

 

 

You have to expect some fun at a brewery that prominently displays The Three Stooges out front!

 

 

What trip to Milwaukee would be complete without a trip to the Harley-Davidson Museum?  On a windy Saturday with unseasonably warm temperatures in the upper 80’s and winds blowing at a steady 23 mph, we hopped on our bikes and rode along the lakefront bike path to W. Canal Street and immersed ourselves in everything Harley.

The Hill Climber sculpture

Outside Harley-Davidson Museum 

 

Harley-Davidson has been an integral part of Milwaukee culture since 1903 when William Harley and Arthur Davidson built their first motorcycle in a 10’x15’ wooden shed, a replica of which is located on the campus of the museum. 

A few of the hundreds of Harleys on display

 

Elvis Presley’s first Harley purchased in 1956 for $903 on a $50/month payment plan!

 

The Tsunami Bike

 

 

 

 

Perhaps the most interesting motorcycle on display is the Tsunami Bike, the Harley-Davidson that drifted over 4,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean!  In March of 2011, a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Japan. An estimated 20 million tons of debris was swept out to sea including the storage container/shed housing the 2004 Night Train model H-D that belonged to Ikuo Yokoyama.  Just over a year later, the storage container washed up on the Canadian shore of British Columbia with the battered H-D still inside.  The owner was tracked down through the rusted license plate and intact VIN that were still attached to the motorcycle.  The 29-year-old owner had survived the tsunami but many of his family members had not.  He declined Harley-Davidson’s offer of a new replacement motorcycle.  But he did request that the damaged motorcycle be displayed as a memorial to the tragedy that claimed 15,000 lives.  Quite an incredible story!

And here is another interesting story told by Frank:

In my mother’s last year Barbara took the initiative to scan many of mom’s pictures.  One picture showed my grandfather George Werner in World War I standing next to his motorcycle in France (we believe the date was 1917).  I thought the motorcycle might have been a Harley Davidson.

When I began riding Harley’s in 2008 I had some of my gang, the “Wild Hogs” take a picture of me by my rented bike in a similar pose!

 

Despite several inquiries I never found a source that could confirm my grandfather’s motorcycle was a Harley.  At the museum I learned that about one-third of Harley’s production during World War I went to the military, largely due to General Pershing’s push for a mechanized Army.  The 1918 model on display at the museum looks close enough to my grandfather’s photo that I am declaring the case closed!

 

Not being a motorcycle enthusiast myself, I could have been very happy on a Harley-Davidson bicycle.  But, gee, I guess they were just for boys.

 

We had definitely been immersed in an overload of Harley- Davidson history and trivia during our several hours exploring the museum.  It was time to hop on our own bikes and head back to McKinley Marina.  The wind had definitely grown stronger and gustier since we had arrived.  L

On our ride back along the lakefront, we took this picture of a nice sailboat being battered by the wind.  Moments later it went crashing into the seawall.  We spent some time rendering what limited assistance we could.  A bad day on the water for these sailors during a small craft advisory.

 

 

We left Lazy W to winter in heated storage so that we could come back in the summer to enjoy the cooler weather on the Great Lakes.  So what happens two days after we arrive in Milwaukee?  A heat wave!  Temperatures Saturday and Sunday topped out in the upper 80’s.  Unlike Virginia though, the humidity was low.  The strong gusty winds (sustained at 25mph) kept us comfortable enough but Lazy W did a lot of rockin’ and rollin’ at the dock.

A small craft advisory was in effect for Sunday so we extended our stay in Milwaukee another day.  Our tourist map showed North Point Lighthouse to be a short bike ride away so we pedaled north along N. Lincoln Memorial Drive.  Well, finding the lighthouse was like finding a needle in a haystack!  It was not located on the lakefront but up a hill in a residential neighborhood – the only signage we encountered was on the front lawn of the lighthouse.  Definitely could have used some directional help getting there, Milwaukee.  Instead of a 1.4 mile ride, we probably covered 6 before arriving there.  But we did enjoy riding through old neighborhoods around the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee campus.

 

 

 

 

A few hours spent in the Milwaukee Art Museum introduced us to some new-to-us works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Toulouse Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keefe, Claude Monet, and Camille Pissarro.  This glass piece by Dale Chihuly graces the light-filled atrium beneath the Brise Soleil.

 

Our reward for the afternoon was another bike trek to North Point Custard for a taste of their famous Madagascar Vanilla Custard.  We earned every calorie-filled lick. 

We are hoping the weather tomorrow cooperates and we can head back out on the lake!